Sunday, 7 May 2017

Perth to Adelaide - Day 22 - Nundroo

Before breakfast a couple saw me loading up Beatrice and asked what I was up to. Once again I'm amazed by the generosity of complete strangers, after only a brief chat Sharyn and Dave donated $50 on the spot to Cure Cancer Australia.

I have got a reasonably long ride of 143km today to get to Nundroo. The Yalata roadhouse I had marked as a water supply point about 94km into the day is closed down for good, so I will have to be self sufficient again for the full day today. I was also a little late to get going and there was plenty of wind, already! But, a few kms East of Nullarbor roadhouse a car passed me slowly and carefully, the occupants shouting out words of encouragement and giving the thumbs up...it was Sharyn and Dave again...what great people!

This area really is treeless, and is more like my preconceptions of the whole Nullarbor plain! Its quite beautiful.

After the turn off to the Head of the Bight [ good whale watching from May - Oct ], the land changes quite dramatically as you enter the Yalata Aboriginal Reserve, with the road undulating through forests with the tallest trees I've seen since about Norseman. But to be honest I wasn't enjoying the cycling today, the combination of no shoulder on the road and the undulating terrain meant great care was needed at blind spots and I frequently had to suddenly steer Beatrice into the rough gravel to avoid vehicles when there was not enough space on the road. Still loads of waves and honks from friendly drivers, but there was just plain old not enough room.

The wind also turned from a blustery crosswind to directly head on, and got really strong. So it was some relief to get to Nundroo, my goal for the day after working pretty hard on the pedals. Looking at a map Ceduna is so close now, but today has reminded me not to get complacent...it seems there are no easy kms out here at the moment.

Tomorrow I will get going earlier, a day off riding will be the reward on reaching Ceduna, and I'm probably going to have to fight for it again!